Hospitals are required to let you know when they’ve seen your patient via an admit, discharge, or transfer (ADT) notice. To ensure that happens, physicians are required to make sure their digital contact information in a federal database is up to date.
The mandatory hospital ADT notice is a condition of participation under the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Interoperability and Patient Access final rule. Hospitals must send the notification to the patient’s primary care physician or physician of record as identified by the patient or the patient’s payer.
The rule applies to all patients who receive emergency department (ED) or inpatient services, including at psychiatric hospitals. At a minimum, the notification must include the name of the patient, treating practitioner, and sending institution.
“This requirement is intended to improve care coordination by alerting you when your patient shows up at the emergency department and allows you to appropriately follow up with your patient upon discharge from the hospital,” said Ogechika Alozie, MD, chair of the Texas Medical Association’s Committee on Health Information Technology.
As part of the same federal rule, physicians are required to update their digital contact information in the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) so hospitals have the information they need to electronically send the ADT notices.
Your digital contact information should not be a standard email address, rather a direct protocol or similar HIPAA-compliant address. The Texas Health Services Authority direct protocol workgroup has developed practical instructions on how to add your digital address to NPPES.
In some instances, there may be multiple admission notifications for one patient, for example:
- If a patient who enters through the ED is not admitted for inpatient services, the hospital must send a notification of the patient’s ED visit.
- Once a patient is receiving inpatient services, another notification must be sent as the patient’s admission status changes.
- If a patient transferred to another facility, the physician receives a notice of transfer.
- A physician receives notice once a patient is discharged, whether from inpatient or outpatient admissions.
Work with your electronic health record (EHR) vendor to better understand if and how your EHR receives data sent by the hospitals, and how the alerts are delivered. The information in an ADT notice is limited; it likely will not include anything about presenting problems or diagnosis.
Hospitals should not charge physicians a fee to receive ADT notifications.
For questions on ADT notices, contact the TMA Knowledge Center by calling (800) 880-7955 or email the Knowledge Center.